Venus manifests the feminine spirit; she is well known as the Goddess of love and beauty. Our Venus shows our affection and sense of harmony in life. In the chart of the male, she represents the wife or lover. She is our appreciation of the beautiful and, as such, represents our aesthetic sense.

Venus is the significator of art, poetry, painting, music and dance. She is our muse in life, our sense of the beloved that draws out our creative expression. She indicates our sensitivity, refinement and gentleness.

On the lower or outward level, Venus shows our seeking for pleasure, comfort and luxury. She represents the pleasure of the senses and the comforts of the body. She is sexuality and sexual attraction and serves to make either the woman or the man more appealing to the opposite sex. She brings wealth as an adornment. She is beauty, style and elegance — the refinement of wealth and not just crude accumulation. Her concern is not just with quantity, but with quality and good taste. She likes gems, antiques, and things of special value. She wants, not just for the joy of possessing but to have the adulation of others.

Thereby she is also inclined to be vain, superficial and affected — mere show. She likes not only to exhibit herself and her own beauty, but to display her adornments which serve to embellish her. She demands that we please her and that we be pleasing to her. She can become the pleasure that dissipates, exhausts and debilitates; the self-indulgence that can destroy us.

In this regard, Venus is the seductress. She is attractive and fascinating. The web of her power can catch our energy like a spider and drain away our fire — our positive will in life — pursuing her favor, which is often fickle or hard to get or impossible to attain. She is dreamy, wispy and hard to hold, and thereby controls us by our seeking of her. She may never let us attain her, for her joy is in being desired, not in being possessed.

Inwardly, Venus is the morning star, the light of inspiration which is the first spark of the Sun of truth. Venus is our aspiration to the good, the beautiful and the pure — our devotion to truth. She is our love that in its true nature is the love of truth. She is our sensitivity that becomes sensuality through its impressionability; but her basic nature is good. Such a pure Venus comes out in association with Jupiter and Mercury. Her vain side manifests in alliance with Mars, which causes an excess of passion, emotion, sexuality and sensuality.

Venus shows our natural tendency to beautify things, to make things reflect their pure or astral forms. Our Venus works on our world to help bring it into harmony with its inner meaning as a play of delight. For Venus all is play (which on a lower level means "all is show") and it is the pathos, the drama of the play that matters to her, not any practical or objective reality. Venus gives the sentiment that would sacrifice a kingdom for one's true love. The astral Gods or Devas, are Venusian creatures and through them is the play of beauty in the world.

Venus represents the higher astral and is the star of our astral light She opens us up to the kingdoms and realms of beauty of the Gods. These include not only the realms of art and myth but also many psychic abilities, powers of visualization, and creative direction of the mind force. On the highest levels, she opens us up to the heavens of devotion wherein we can commune with the Divine in the form that most appeals to us.

In Indian mythology Venus is the teacher of the demons or titans, the Asuras, since to subdue and influence them cannot be done by force but only by charm and grace. Venus also gives power. It is not only the power which fascinates but also the power to move and to motivate. A strong Venus gives sexual power, which on inner levels can be transmuted into astral or spiritual power and strength of will. A strong Venus can give charisma or power of personality. This may be a capacity to inspire, or it may just be a giving of enthusiasm. However, it can also be the power to hypnotize and thereby deceive. Venus can be the sorceress and has many forms of subtle power and allure to entrap us.

Venus was the main planetary deity of Egypt and of Mexico, where Atlantean influence persisted the longest on this planet. Their calendars were based upon the cycles of Venus. The positive and visionary side of Venus came out in these cultures with the use of gems, colors and music; but the negative side also came out when these cultures declined into black magic and idolatry. This resulted in a sumptuous occult kind of materialism that aimed at both physical and astral pleasure. The majority of humanity was turned into slaves for the selfish pleasure of a few. Occult energies were turned towards this subtle astral indulgence. This caused a revolt of the earth energies and the higher Venusian forces which destroyed Atlantis in a flood — from the ocean itself that holds the power of Venus.

Modern culture is bringing out aspects of a negative occult Venus in the mass media, with its massive sensuality and cult of sex and violence. However, we will probably avoid the destruction that Atlantis suffered, though we will experience some major difficulties from our ignorance. It is important that we use this glamour force in the right way. It can heal if used consciously or destroy if used selfishly.

A strong Venus is very helpful in any chart, as it indicates capacity to love, sense of refinement, beauty and purity. Love is the strongest power, and in this regard Venus possesses the power to overcome even Mars. Venus gives vitality, the energy of delight. She is our portion of the Ananda, the Divine Bliss in creation.

An afflicted Venus, on the other hand, is one of the most difficult things to overcome, as it allows us to be taken in by appearances. This lower side of Venus is much in evidence in our culture with its emphasis on the pleasures of the senses. Even the artistic side of Venus has largely been reduced to this today, with our emphasis on loud music, bright colors and showmanship.

We must discover Venus as the love of truth to overcome Venus as the love of appearance. For that we must seek the deepest nature of our love and not accept the image of glamour for it.